Little Falls transcript., 1887-05-13

inv ade. IL scraped along the great
moss rock and lOl with q monstr0us
scratchy -te-scratch, the mott her oyster
and the father oyster and hundreds Of
/ other oysters were torn from their
resting places and borne aloit in very
jumbled and very frightened condition
by the lmpertinent machine. Then
down again, and the sick little oyster
was among the number OF those who
were seized by the horrid monster this
time. She found herself raised to the
| top OF the sea, and all at once she was
dumped in a boatwhere she lay, puny
and helpless on a ahugepileo OF other oy-
sters.s Two men were handling the fierce.
looking machine. A little boy
sat in the stern of the boat
watching the huge pile OF oysters.
| He was pretty little boy with bright
eyes and long, tangled hair. He wore
no hat, and his feet We're bare aud
brown r''~@~ -
What a funny little oyster!" said
the boy, picking up the, sick little oys-
ter; ''it is no bigger than my thumb,
and it is very pale"
Throw it away" said one OF the
men. "Like as not it is bad and not
fit to eat" ,~
'No, keep it and send it out West
for Blue Point" "said the other man
what q heartless wretch he was!
But the little boy had already
thrown the sick little oyster over
board. She fell in shallow water, and
the rising tide carried her still further
towards shore until she lodged against
an old gunboat that lay half buried
in the sand. There were no other
oysters in sight. Her head ached and
she was very weak; how lonesome,
too, she was-yet anything was better
than being eaten-at least so thought
the little oyster, and so, l presume,
think you.
For many weeks and many months
the sick little oyster lay hard by the
old gum boot, and in that time she
made many acquaintance and friends
among the crabs, the Holsters, the fid.
dlers, the star, fish, the waves, the
shells, and the gay little fishes OF the
ocean. They did not harm her for
they saw that she was sick; they pit
led her-some loved her. The one
who loved her most was the perch
| with green fins that attended school
| every day in the academic shade of
the big rocks in the quiet cove about
mile away. He was very gentle and
attentive, and every afternoon he
brought fresh, cool seafoam for the
sick oyster to eat; he told her pretty
stories, too-stories which his grand
mother, the venerable Goldfish, had
told him of the sea king, the mer.
maids, the pixies, the water sprites, and
other Enthusiastically beautiful dwellers
in ocean-depths. Now while all this
was very pleasant, the sick little oys-
ter knew that the perch's wooing was
hopless, for she was very i'll and help.
less, and could never think of becom-
ing burden upon one as young and
so promising as tho gallant perch with
green fins. But when she spoke to
him in this strain, he would not listen;
he kept right on bringing her more and
more seafoam every day.
The old gum boot was quite moth
erly creature, and anon the sick little
oyster became very much attacked to
her. Many times as the little invalid
rested her aching head atfectionately
on the ,instep OF the old gum boot, the
old gum boot told her stories of the
world beyond the sea; how she had
been born IN a mighty forest, and how
proud her folks were Of their family
tree; how she had been taken from
that forest and moulded into the
shape she now bore; how she had
graced and served a foot in am
phibious capacities, until atlast, hav-
ing seen many things and having
travelled much, she had been cast off
and hurled into the sea to be the
scorn OF every crab and the derision
of every fish. These stories were all
new to the little oyster, and amazing,
too; she knew only OF the sea, having
lived therein all her life. She in turn
told the old gum boot quaint legends
OF the ocean, the simple tales she had
heard in her early home, and there
was sweetness and a simplicity in
these stories of the deep that charm
ed the old gum boot, shriveled and
hardened and pessimistic though she
was.
Yet, in spite OF it all-the kindness,
the care, the amusements, and the de-
votion OF her friends-the little oyster
remained always 4 sick and fragile
thing. But no one heard her COM
plain, for she bore her suffering patient
1y.
Not Tar from this beach where the
ocean ended it's long travels there was
a city, and in this city there dwelt
with her parents a maiden of thename
Of Margaret. From infancy she had
been sickly, and although she had now
reached the years of early womanhood,
she could not run or walk about as
others did, but she had to be wheeled
hither and thither in chair. This
was very sad, yet Margaret was so
gentle and uncomplaining that from
aught she said you never would have
thought her life was full Of
suffering. Seeing her helplessness,
the symathetic things Of nature had
compassion and were very good to
Margaret. The sunbeams stole across
her pathway everywhere, the grass
clustered th,ckest and greenest where
she went, the winds caressed her gen.
tly as they passed, and the birds
loved to perch near her window and
sing their prettiesr songs. Margaret
loved them, all the sunlight, the sing
ing winds, thegrass, the ecaroling birds; !
she communed with them, their Wis
dom inspired her life, and this wisdom.
gave her nature q rare beauty. @,@
Every pleasant day Margaret was
wheeled from her home in the city
down to the beach, and there for hours
she would sit, looking out, far out up
on the ocean, as if she were commun-
ing with the ocean spirits that lifted up
their white arms from the restless
waters and beckoned her to come.
Oftentimes the children playing on
4 hfa. hna ch n, q, = yef,oxa. Afn1.rnrat ! COZ